YAKSHAGANA BAYALATA K. S. Upadhyaya Yakshagana Bayalata is an exquisite folk dance-drama played. mostly in the South and North Kanara Districts of Mysore State. The genesis of this folk art is stilI a matter of controversy, but it can be stated that it has much affinity with the various regional forms of dance-drama performed in India such as the Kathakali of Kerala, the Bhagavatha Mela of Tamilnad, and Veedhinatakamu of AndhraPradesh. Yakshagana is known in different parts of Kamatak by different names. While in the plains of North Kamatak area it is termed Doddaata, in old Mysore area it is known as Moodalapaya. Its more refined form prevalent in the coastal districts of Kamataka ispopularly called Yakshagana; Akin to Yakshagana, there is another folk art very popular in South Kanara district namely Yakshagana Bombeyaata (Puppet Show). This has also a hoary tradition of over 300 years. Expert opinion of various scholars on these various forms of popular dance-dramas trace their origin to the Sanskrit dance-drama which. was in vogue in India during the 4th century A.D•.. Dr. Ananda Coomar­ swamy, renowed critic and research scholar,': has opined that ancient Shaivaites werepractising a Natya Shastra which was in no way inferior to the Natya Shastra of Bharata and that the centre of this Natya Shastra was the famous Nataraja Temple of Chidambaram. That these dance-dramas were .distinctly different from the Sanskrit dramas was apparent,' Sanskrit dramas .were .. a combination. of prose and poetry in champu style and the characters therein had to learn by rote the dialogue and there were no dance movements. in Yakshagana it SANGEEI' NATAK 38 different. Yakshagana is essentially a dance-drama with the characters depicting their roles effectively through dance, keeping step with the accompanying music. There is no historical and' written evidence to trace the origin of the name Yakshagana given to this form of music, Scholars have felt that like Gandharvagana this form was named Yakshagana. Gandharvagana became marg music while Yakshagana became popular as desi music. Those who specialised in this form of desi Natya shastra were known as yakshas. They became a community by themselves having taken up this art as a profession. It is rather difficult to prove whether the word yaksha was derived from Sanskrit or was the Sanskritised form of desi, Jakka. There is also a line of argument that gandharvas had learnt music from yakshas and that Gandharvagana or marg was the more refined form of Yakshagana. Further, Dr. Kota Shivarama Karanth, argues that yakshini is in Kannada, Jakkini. There is prevalent in the rural parts of Kanara, worship of a local deity named Jakkini and the worship of this Jakkini with music must have provided the background for the name of the music. There is also another line of thought that Ekkalagana in Kannada is solo music. The Kannada poets, Nagachandra (12th century) and Rathnakara Varni (16th century), have described a form of dance-drama, Ekkalagana (Ekkadigaru). The reference obviously is to Yakshagana. Our ancestors used to call the exponents of the Yakshagana style of music, yakkadigaru the ancient Andhras called them jakkulu, and the stories sung by these musicians were known as Jakkulu Katha. Sarangadeva, an authority on music in Ancient India recognizedjakka as a style of music popular in.his time. The only other reference to the Yakshagana system of music in any of the Sanskrit works on dance and music is in the Sangeetha Sudha of Govinda Dikshitan. He referred to Yakshagana as one of the systems of music. This work, however, is comparatively of recent date, having been published only in 1628. The 9th century Kannada poet-king Nripathunga, in his Kaviraj­ amargalankara has referred to desi poetry and mentioned various forms of poetic compositions, Chathaana, Bedande, Baajana. Scholars have inter­ preted these forms as different themes of Yakshagana. But there are written works to prove this theory. A Teluguwork on prosody called Appakaviyam mentions that Yakshagana songs are composed in the ragada metre. Sarangadeva century A.D.) in his Sangeetha Rathanakara describes a metre called rahadi and says that it is ideal for veera rasa, or war-like emotions. There doubt that this rahadi is the Kannada ragale. While originally this 39 YAKSHAGANA have been used predominantly in the composition of Yakshagana songs, now other metrical compositions like bhamini, vaardhakya, kanda, vritta, dwipadi and shatpadi are principally used. It is quite clear from the writings of the great Kannada poet, Rathnakara Varni (circa 1557 A.D.) who hails from this region that there was in his time a system of dramatic entertainment consisting of music and dance with a hoary tradition of its own. The bayalaata tradition must have had at least a hundred years' fruitful development before then and the date of its attaining its own distinctive character and the stature of a great form of art must, therefore, be pushed back to about 1450 A.D. Dr. Shivaram Karanth cites many authorities to prove that the "Yakshagana" system of music was in vogue earlier still and declares that it has at least a thousand years history behind it. Yakshagana has flourished in the Kanara districts for centuries. One can see its powerful influence still surviving in the rites and rituals and matins and vespers of ancient temples and in the hymnal chorus at old fashioned weddings. A matching system of dance also grew up, indigenous in origin, native to the soil, representative of the cultural greatness of Malenaad or Nagara­ khanda as this part of India stretching from Udipi to Gokarna used to be known in those days, owing nothing to Bharata Natyam or Kathakali and drawing its inspiration entirely from the ritualistic dances offered in worship of the snake-god, Naga, propitiated from pre-historic times by the earliest inhabitants of the area. Those who have had the privilege of watching a Naagamandala, one of the most remarkable of such propitiatory dances, will be able to appreciate how close the resemblance is and how graceful and various the wavy and serpentine movements characteristic of this dance are. It is quite natural and understandable that there are several similarities between this kind of dance-drama and the drama traditions of the neigh­ bouring areas. If, however, we examine these different traditions, .part by corresponding part, we shall find differences and distinctive pecularities. Take the system ofsinging, or the style of dancing, or costumes, or the make­ up techniques ~ployed in each and make a comparative study, the indi­ vidual character of each of these traditions stands out unmistakably. For instance in Yakshagana Bayalata there is dialogue but, the Kathakali, Ottanthullal and Ramanattam .traditions employ gesture instead: "Koochi" pudi is particularly full of these. It may not be.surprising to note that Koochipudi dance seemsto have been conceived from inspiration drawn from Yakshaganadanceof Kanara by its founder, Siddhendra Yogi (Siddappa), who, it is said took a 20-year course of study in Madhwa philosophy and other shastras at the feet of His Holiness, Sri .Narahari Tirtha Swamiji, of Udipi Mutt, in South Kanara. SANGEET NATAK 40 During his stay in this district, he also received training in Natya Shastra. Udipi being the centre of Yakshagana dance form, it may easily be surmise~ that the yogi receivedtraining in Yakshagana also and that the later Koochi­ pudi style which came into vogue in Andhra, was introduced by him on the basis of his training in Yakshagana. There is a type of drama. called Yakshagana in Andhra Pradesh; at least there was such a thing once. It is reasonable to surmise that long, long ago they used toemploy the Yakshagana style of music in the sedramas. There is another kind of dance-drama known as Bhagavatha Mela which is now being played only in Melathoor and its immediate neighbour­ hood and which has an old tradition. The style of music adopted here is the modern Karnatak music and the dance is excessively influenced by Bharatanatyam. There is no dance-drama tradition at all in neighbouring Maharashtra and so there is no question of a Maharashtrian influence on Yakshgana. Kathakali of Kerala is an off-shoot of the Ramanattam begun by the King of Kottarakara (who lived about 1655 A.D.). It is the result of a series of experiments with the Ramanattam system on the lines of Bharatanatyam. Any tyro can see that the dances here which can best be interpreted as speaking through gesture and movement, have had absolutely no influence· on Yakshagana. Kolluru Mukambika Temple, founded by Adi Shankaracharya, at the foot of the Kutachadri hills of Western Ghats in the northern part of South Kanara district has been traditionally a famous pilgrimage centre for the people of Kerala, who congregate in large numbers there during Nava­ ratri. It is said that the pilgrims to this temple, which is a home of the Yakshagana folk dance-drama, took with them vivid impressions of this unique form of music and dance and the Raja of Kottarakara who heard these descriptions was influenced to found the Kathakali Natya in Kerala subsequently. The painting of the face in Kathakali follows the famous classification of character into Satwik, Rajasic. and Taamasik while in Yakshagana, it is different. Itis, therefore, clear that Yakshagana is an art conceived and developedindependently down the centuries by the people ofthe Kanara Districts on the West Coast of India. Let us now consider the main features of Yakshagana, Firstly, it is a dance-drama combining. dance and music. It must, .therefore, •have.a story, .a theme. .. The story is taken from the Puranas mainly dealing with the ten incarnations of Vishnu and that is why this is otherwise.